Disclaimer: I own nothing. I write for fun.
The knights and Arthur were in the midst of another battle with Woads, on a field partially surrounded by stone walls that reached up to the heavens. Although severely outnumbered, Arthur and the infamous Knights were winning. As usual.
Gawain and Galahad were fighting relatively close together. As were Bors and Dagonet. All four were slicing through their enemies with their respective weapons. Tristan was shooting arrows through the air, landing them into the throats and guts of the Woads.
Lancelot was twirling his twin swords around, killing his opponents. Screaming Woad after screaming Woad kept running up to him, brandishing their weapons, but Lancelot did not faulter; he triumphed over the attackers again and again.He willed them to come to him so he could release the anger that had been building up inside of him since the last batlle they had fought.
Arthur was focused on the fairly large group of Woads that currently had him surrounded. Saying a silent prayer up to his God, he weilded Excalibur and cut his enemies down. Woad after Woad fell before him, having met the glorious sword of the legendary commander. He slit the final Woad's throat and watched as it fell to the ground, it's eyes still open.
He looked around him at the battle, which was now dying down. He noticed Gawain and Galahad finishing up the last of the Woads around them. Bors and Dagonet were gathering up the horses, already preparing for the long journey home. Tristan was walking through the battlefield, picking up his arrows and placing them in the pack on his back.
Where was Lancelot?
Arthur began searching the battlefield for his second in command. In the frenzy of the battle, Arthur had lost site of him.
"Lancelot!" Arthur called out.
He was met with nothing but the heavy silence that battle brings in its aftermath.
Arthur felt a little panicked now. Where was Lancelot? Surely he was around here somewhere. Arthur spun around and around, his eyes searching desperately over the ground in an attempt to locate his best friend.
"Where's Lancey?" Bors questioned Arthur as he and the other knights drew closer to their commander.Obviously he hadn't heard Arthur call out for their fellow knight just then. Arthur turned his face up to look at the knights. They took in the fearful and panicked expression on the face of their leader and instantly felt their stomachs drop.
"I last saw him over there by the stone wall." Tristan spoke up.
All heads turned in that direction-and their hearts dropped down to join their stomachs. There was only one body over there-lying motionless on the ground, and it was clad in what from this distance appeared to be Sarmatian armor.
"Lancelot!" Arthur's anguised cry tore over the field. All at once the men took off towards their fallen comrade. Arthur reached him first.
Lancelot was lying on his stomach, and a pool of blood surrounded his head and another pool was rapidly forming around the knight's left side. Arthur immediately saw the wound on his side-it looked like Lancelot had been stabbed in the lower back. Arthur cursed. Back wounds were never good.Well, any wound was never good, but a knife wound in the back was among the worst.
"Lancelot," Arthur said the knight's name again, praying for an answer.He recieved none. He cautiously put two shaking fingers to Lancelot's neck and held his breath.
He was alive!
Arthur let out his breath as the other knights reached him.
"Is he..." Galahad questioned fearfully.
"No, he's breathing, but his breaths are short and staggered. The basturds stabbed him in the back." Arthur responded bitterly.
"Arthur, we need to roll him over on his side so I can take a look at his head." Tristan calmly told his commander.
Gawain dropped down to his knees to assist Arthur in turning the injured knight over on his right side. The site that met them made Dagonet gasp, Bors cover his mouth, and Galahad turn away.
Arthur took in his knights' expressions and quickly leaned over Lancelot to see what was wrong. The color drained from his face.
The entire left side of Lancelot's face and head was covered in blood. The crimson fluid appeared to be coming from a huge gash extending across Lancelot's head down to right below his left ear. The knight's shoulder was also leaking blood from a much larger gash that seemed to cover his entire shoulder.
Tristan saw his comrade's injuries and instantly began searching the area for the weapon that caused it. He needed to determine if it was poisoned or not.
He couldn't find anything anywhere.' Surely Lancelot was not injured somewhere else and then dragged over here? ' he thought to himself. Something dawned on him and he realized that a weapon might not have caused Lancelot's wounds. He looked up to the wall and his suspicions were immediately confirmed.
There was blood smeared on the side of the stony surface, trickling down to meet the dead grass.
" Arthur, look,"
Arthur turned his attention away from his friend when he heard Tristan's voice. He expected to see the scout holding a dagger that was emblazoned with the Woadish words for poison, but he was met with Tristan pointing up towards the stone wall that lay behind them.
Arthur's stomach sank even further. He saw the blood and realized what had happened, and as he looked at his knights, he could tell by the outraged looks on their faces that they understood what had happened too.
A Woad had stabbed Lancelot in the back and then he and another Woad had threw Lancelot very forcefully against the stone.
Bors let out an angry yell. Galahad had turned back around when he heard Tristan call Arthur's name, and he tried and barely succeeded in holding back the vomit that threatened to make its way up. Dagonet looked furious and saddened at the same time; his eyes went from the wall to Lancelot and back to the wall. Tristan swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and glanced at Arthur.
All color in the Roman commander's face had completely drained for the second time in less than ten minutes and he blinked back tears of sorrow and fear for his best friend. He immediately turned his attention back to Lancelot, who had started moaning and shaking.
"Lancelot;" Arthur called out, hoping the knight was coming around. Lancelot just winced and continued shivering and moaning.
"Arthur, we need to get him back to the fort at once." Tristan stated.
Arthur nodded. He looked up to Bors and Dagonet, who, without question ran away to gather the horses that had been abandoned earlier.
"Galahad, reach in my saddle bag and get the bandages out;" the scout softly commanded. Arthur held Lancelot in his arms, pushing the knight's curly hair out of his eyes and away from the head wound.
Galahad ran to Tristan's mare, who was not with the other horses, and grabbed the entire saddle bag, pulling put the bandages as he ran back towards his friends.
He handed them to Tristan who immediately pressed some to the wound on Lancelot's side, while Arthur took the rest and applied gentle pressure to the wound on the knight's head.' His head wound has already stopped bleeding' he noticed.
Gawain had pulled some bandages out of his bag and set them on the gash on Lancelot' shoulder. Tristan took over the bandaging and soon everybody except Bors and Dagonet were mounted up ready to go. The two knights gently picked up their brother-in-arms and placed him in the saddle of Arthur's horse. Then they too mounted their horses, and with Tristan tying Lancelot's horses' reigns' to his own horse's, they were off.
Three hours way from the battlefield, Lancelot began to stir. He moaned loudly and fought to keep the vomit under control. Arthur felt the knight heave against him and immediately stopped his horse and dismounted, pulling Lancelot with him. They didn't get three steps until Lancelot was vomiting horrendously.
After he finished he collapsed against Arthur, who had held him the entire time, and passed out again. Dagonet dismounted silently and helped Arthur get Lancelot back into the saddle, and they continued on with their journey.
Two hours later the group arrived back at the fort. The rest of the journey had not gone peacefully. After Lancelot' first bout of sickness, it just kept getting worse. He continued to dry heave painfully long after his stomach had been emptied. A few of the last times Lancelot had thrown up, it was mixed with blood. Arthur grew even more worried when he saw this, and they hastened towards the wall.
Jols sent for the healer at once after seeing Lancelot riding with Arthur. Gawain had already dismounted and was taking Lancelot down from Arthur's horse. He gently laid him on the ground. Lancelot began moaning and heaving again, and Arthur was at his side at once. He held Lancelot in his arms, minding his wounds, and whispered encouraging things to him. The knight quieted down, much to Arthur's relief.
The healer arrived with a stretcher, and Arthur gently placed the injured knight upon the board, and he and Bors picked it up and followed the doctor to the healing room. Once there, Bors picked Lancelot up and placed him on his right side on the cot. Blood had soaked through the bandages surrounding his shoulder and back wound.
"What happened?" the healer questioned Arthur.
"He was stabbed in the back and thrown against a stone wall." the anxious commander replied.
"Alright, I need room-Out Out Out!" the old doctor shortly ordered, and the knights reluctantly obeyed. Arthur cast one last look upon his wounded best friend before he closed the door tight behind him.
Several hours later, Arthur was seated by Lancelot's bed. The knight was still deathly pale and still cried out in pain occasionally, but he was still unconcious. The doctor had told Arthur and the other knights that Lancelot had suffered severe trauma to his head and shoulder, and the stab wound on his back was infected. The knight had also lost an extreme amount of blood and 'might be too weak to fight it.'
Arthur sighed and shifted in his seat. He held Lancelot's hand in his own, and he prayed that his best friend would show a sign of waking up.Lancelot shivered, and whimpered. Arthur squeezed his hand and leaned in a little bit closer. It looked like he was coming around!
All of a sudden Lancelot's eyes shot open and he yelled out in pain. Arthur jumped out of his chair and immediately gathered Lancelot in his arms, avoiding the injuries.
" Shh, it's alright Lancelot, you're alright. I'm right here. You're alright." He soothed the younger knight.
Lancelot began to shake and whimper again,and he leaned in closer to Arthur. A sudden bolt of pain made him curl into himself, but Arthur held him steady.
"Lancelot, you'll hurt yourself worse if you lay like that. Lay straight down on the bed. the pain will subside, I promise."
Lancelot reluctantly obeyed Arthur's words, and in seconds was asleep again.
An hour later Arthur was jerked awake by Lancelot calling his name.He sat up in his chair and looked at his knight, expecting him to be awake, but he was met with closed eyes; Lancelot was just crying out in his sleep. Arthur felt the knight's forehead. He was burning with fever! He called out to the doctor, who was thankfully on his way into the room anyway. The doctor supplied Arthur with a bowl of cold water and a rag. Arthur took the rag, wetted it, and gently placed it on Lanceot's forehead.
The doctor checked Lancelot's back wound. " It's not infected anymore, luckily. His fever must be from his head injury."
Arthur sighed and just stared at his second in command.He again sent up a prayer to his God that Lancelot would live.
Two days of Lancelot caught in the midst of a high fever, with the knights drifting in and out of their brother-in-arms room to assure themselves that Lancelot still drew breath. Arthur never left his friend's side. Lancelot would wake up occasionally, and when he did, Arthur needed to be there because Lancelot would be either screaming out in pain, or vomiting. Arthur couldn't decide which was worse.
On the third day Lancelot awoke to tremendous pain in his entire body. He was dizzy, and he felt nauseous.' Wasn't Arthur here?' he thought to himself.
"Arthur." the knight called out. Arthur ran into the room with a bowl of cold water for his fever.
"Lancelot!" he cried. "How are you, my friend? Are you feeling sick again?" He questioned as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"I feel dizzy, but I don't think I will throw up. How long have I been out of it? I feel as if I've slept for weeks."
"About three and a half days. We were all so worried Lancelot."
Lancelot nodded sleepily, and his eyes drifted closed.
"Sleep my dear friend. You need to get well."
The next time Lancelot awoke he was somewhat hungry. Arthur spooned some broth into his mouth. If Lancelot had been feeling a tiny bit better, he would have been mortified at the thought of being spoon fed by his commander. But at the present moment, Lancelot couldn't feel much of anything except pain. He couldn't have fed himself if he wanted to; he was laying on his right side, so his back wound and injured shoulder prevented him from moving around alot.
Gawain walked into the room just as Lancelot finished the last little bit.
"Hey, you're awake! And eating! I presume you're feeling better then?" he questioned.
"You presume correctly Gawain," Lancelot answered quietly.
"Well, the women will be glad to hear it then!" the knight joked.
"Yes, I imagine they will; they've been left with Dagonet the past few days. That can't be too inviting." Lancelot joked back.
Arthur and Gawain exchanged amused and relieved glances.
A week later Lancelot was up and walking around the fort. With five anxious knights and an even more anxious commander at his heels that is.
"Can't I bloody go anywhere by myself anymore?" he yelled one day after being followed by Arthur and Dagonet out to the stables.
The outburst left him lightheaded and he pitched forward. Both Arthur and Dagonet lept forward to try and catch him, but they were too far away. Lancelot hit the ground with a thud and lay there still.
"Lancelot!" They both cried out. Arthur rolled the knight gently over and took him in his arms.
"Lancelot, are you alright?" he questioned frantically.
Lancelot moaned in reponse. He had avoided hitting his head, but had instead landed on his injured shoulder. He gasped as the waves of pain continued to wash over him.
"Ahhhh.Bloody hell." came Lancelot's reply.He winced as the last bout of pain passed through him.
"That, my friend, is exactly why you cannot go anywhere by yourself anymore. " Arthur said to his stubborn friend. Lancelot gave him a look before attempting to get up. He collapsed back into Arthur's waiting embrace.
"Damn it Lancelot, set your pride aside for a moment so you won't kill yourself" Dagonet burst out. Lancelot cast his defeated eyes downwards and allowed Arthur and Dagonet to pull him gently to his feet.Lancelot took a tentative step forward and almost lost his balance again, but this time the two were there in time to catch him.
"You need sleep my friend." Arthur stated. They began to support Lancelot back inside to his room. About halfway there, Lancelot passed out and Arthur carried him the rest of the way.
"Sleep peacefully my friend." He whispered as he placed Lancelot into his bed.
The next few days went by without further incident, Lancelot surprisingly didn't try to do anything his injury didn't permit.
One day Lancelot and Arthur were walking out to the stables, and they were met by the rest of the knights, already mounted up and ready for battle. Arthur turned around to face Lancelot.
"Are you ready to extract some revenge my dear friend?" He questioned with a mischievious glint in his eyes.
Lancelot gave him a surprised look.
" Unless, of course, you are not ready yet?" Arthur baited his second in command.
That was all Lancelot needed to hear. He headed into the stables to get his horse ready, and when he passed Arthur he muttered under his breath, "I'll show you ready, Artorius Castus. Give me my bloody swords!"
Arthur and the rest of the knights laughed heartily, relieved that Lancelot was well again.
"Welcome back my friend, welcome back" Arthur whispered to himself as he and his knights went galloping off towards another battle.
The End.
This is my first fanfiction EVER! I want to hear any advice you guys have for me, but please be nice!